Merlin has Magic
by unorthodox yo-yo
Summary: No really! He does! A collection of reveal one-shots. NO SLASH! Chapter 3: The corners of Merlin's mouth twitched. "Best friend?"
1. Not Quite Dead Yet

**Author's Notes: Everyone loves a good ol' Reveal one shot. And I love coming up with them. This is meant to be a collection of them. Instead of creating a whole bunch of individual stories, I intend to put them all in here for your simple reading pleasure! :D **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Merlin, Arthur would know by now. Soooo, obviously I don't own Merlin. **

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><p><strong>Not Quite Dead Yet<strong>

Arthur and his knights had been sent out to patrol the boarders in response to rumors of sorcery. Deep down inside, Arthur was sick of dropping everything to investigate every report of sorcery. They were becoming too numerous with too many dead ends and Arthur was starting to wonder if the subjects of Camelot were becoming as paranoid as their king.

Not that he blamed any of them, he told himself. He knew how evil sorcery was. He shivered at the memory of Morgause and the false vision of his mother. Magic couldn't be trusted.

Merlin brought his horse up next to Arthur's. Internally the prince groaned, he was in no mood for any of the manservant's smart comments right now.

"You know, that barmaid who reported seeing a sorcerer in these parts didn't totally seem sober," Merlin pointed out casually.

"I'm well aware, Merlin," Arthur responded with a scowl.

"I doubt anyone would be surprised if this trip would turn out to be yet another false alarm," Merlin said again.

"Just what are you implying, _Mer_lin," Arthur snapped.

"That I'm tired and hungry and I'm pretty sure we passed a tavern just a couple miles back," Merlin indicated with his head. "If you're so intent on finding something, could we at least find something after we've eaten?"

The prince had to admit that it was a very tempting idea, but now that the idiot had asked for it, he couldn't allow him the satisfaction of getting what he wanted.

"No, Merlin, I afraid that's not an option right now," Arthur said, using his authoritative voice.

"Why not?" Merlin asked again, baiting him. Arthur didn't need to look over at him to know that he was smiling. He could hear the smirk in the manservant's voice.

"Because," the prince replied. Arthur actually had to rack his brain for a good reason. "Because, I was just about to split us all up to cover more ground, before it gets dark."

Merlin sighed dejectedly and Arthur rolled his eyes.

The prince called to his nights for their attention. "We're splitting up men. Leon, you and Averill head northwest. Broderick, you take Carlyle and Kenton north this way. Merlin and I shall head northeast and check the perimeter of the bluffs. Meet back here in two hours, keep a sharp eye out for a trail and keep your wits about."

With that Arthur headed off in the direction of the bluffs and a scowling Merlin followed behind.

They had walked their horses along the edges of the bluffs for nearly an hour and Merlin had been punishing Arthur non-stop with his sulking.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have done this later," Merlin told his master.

"It would have been dark later," Arthur replied.

"I still don't see why we couldn't have done this tomorrow," Merlin said again. Arthur sighed.

"Tomorrow, if we even found anything they would have been a whole day's ahead of us."

"Yes but we have horses, they probably don't," Merlin pointed out.

Arthur sighed, "You don't know that. It's obvious you don't know the first thing about tracking. We could easily lose their trail if we let it wait."

"If there is a trail," Merlin muttered. "It's obvious that you don't have a really good argument as to why we couldn't just go back to the tavern. Face it Arthur, there aren't any-"

Merlin stopped in midsentence and sat up straight in his saddle. "Arthur," he started. But he didn't get to finish.

At that moment there was a great flash and a bang right in front of Arthur's horse. It reared back and the blonde prince went tumbling off and rolled down the bluffs.

"Arthur!" Merlin cried leaping off his own horse and looking down to where his master had landed. The bluffs were luckily not too deep, but they were rather steep and it wasn't going to be easy for the prince to get back up.

It was good that Merlin had leapt off his horse because just then an arrow shot the air where his head had been previously. Merlin glanced over his shoulder and spotted a man perched in the trees. He was knocking another bolt to his crossbow and aiming it at Merlin's head again.

Merlin didn't mean to fall down the bluffs as well, but he saw the cross bow aimed at him and kind of instinctively stepped back. There was unfortunately no ground directly behind him and soon Merlin was tumbling down the bluff face as well.

"Merlin! You idiot," Arthur scolded. "We're completely trapped and cornered down here."

"Well, uh, the fastest way to get out of the way of that crossbow was to come down here, and Your Pratness had already fallen down here so it seemed like a good idea at the time," Merlin grumbled.

"Get up," Arthur said, rolling his eyes and helping the scrawny boy to his feet.

Glancing around the two could see that their odds were not good. Their startled horses had bolted leaving them stranded and three men with crossbows now stood above them on the edge of the bluffs. Three more ragged looking cloaked men were also in the bluffs and they now approached the prince and his manservant.

Only one of them had a sword, but all three were smiling wickedly at the two.

Arthur unsheathed his own sword. "Get behind me, Merlin," he ordered.

"Good idea," Merlin replied, "You can protect me from the one guy with a sword and I'll protect you from the bolts from those crossbows."

Arthur sighed. Merlin was right, they were caught.

"What is it that you want?" Arthur asked the men in the bluffs.

One of them approached closer, chuckling menacingly.

"What is it we want, Prince Arthur? Not much, only your head," the man said.

"Oh if that's all," Merlin said, the nervousness in his voice was obviously apparent. "Might as well give it to them, you never even use it anyway, Arthur."

"Shut up, Merlin." He was calculating. If he timed it out right he might be able to get himself and Merlin out of this mess. The trick would be getting out of the ranger of the cross bows.

The man who spoke lifted up his hand and a patch of fire briefly materialized in his palm. Only a show, meant to frighten them. But that meant these men were obviously sorcerers too. Their small odds at survival were dwindling.

"What quarrel do I have with you?" Arthur asked, hoping to buy some time.

The man laughed again. "Your highness must be joking. Isn't it obvious? The Pendragon family has been persecuting our kind for as long as any of us can remember. When king Cenred hired us to do this job in order to start a war, how could we pass up the opportunity?"

Suddenly his hand lashed out and with a quick ancient word, vines sprung from the ground and wrapped themselves around Arthur and Merlin before they had a chance to respond. The vines squeezed across their chests and arms and pulled the two to their knees.

"We plan to deliver your royal head to your royal father," the man with the sword chuckled as he drew his weapon. "It will be a broken man who leads the troops of Camelot to war. Your kingdom stands no chance." The third man pulled out a large bag, presumably for Arthur's head. Arthur felt a lump form in his throat as despair settled in. There really was no way out of this one.

The sword was brought up to Arthur's neck, then the sword's man pulled back to take a measured swing.

"Arthur, no!" Merlin cried, struggling against his bonds.

"Any last words, Pendragon?" the swordsman spat. Arthur set his jaw and squared his shoulders.

But Merlin had something to say. The prince heard his manservant shout some ancient words at the attackers and the whole world seemed to explode. Dust flew into the air, that attacker's flew back, the vines holding the two all but shattered. Arthur squinted through the turmoil trying to figure out what was going on.

Then everything was still. All six of the attackers were either unconscious or dead. The vines that had held them were in tiny pieces on the ground.

Disbelief and relief bubbled up in Arthur's chest and it came out as incredulous laughter as he looked around, slowly realizing that he wasn't quite dead yet. He wasn't about to die.

Then his eyes fell on Merlin and what had just happened slowly caught up with him.

Merlin was still kneeling in the dirt watching Arthur intently.

"Merlin."

He didn't mean to make it sound so harsh. Adrenalin was still pounding in his ears from nearly having his head chopped off.

Merlin visibly flinched. The scrawny, raven-haired kid just took out six dangerous men, sorcerers even, yet he flinched at Arthur's voice.

It took Arthur a moment to process everything. Merlin was a sorcerer. Merlin had just saved his life. Merlin flinched at his voice. In fact, he looked positively terrified right now. Arthur had never seen Merlin so scared in his life.

He's expecting me to be angry, Arthur realized. And just like that Arthur realized that he wasn't angry. Merlin was apparently more than capable of taking him out right there, yet he sat there frozen with fear. How could he be angry at that?

"Merlin," he said again, this time more gently. "Are you alright?"

Merlin's eyebrows shot up as he looked at Arthur suspiciously. "Are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You saw what happened just then right?"

"Yes, Merlin."

"You saw what I just did?"

"Yes, _Mer_lin."

Merlin bit his lip still not moving.

Internally Arthur groaned as he realized Merlin had absolutely no reason to trust him. Not only was he the prince of the most anti-magic kingdom ever, but there had been many times were Arthur had instructed and informed Merlin on how the evil of magic must be destroyed.

Arthur sighed as he picked up his sword from where it had fallen. Bad idea. Merlin gasped a little and fell back off his knees.

"Merlin! I'm not," Arthur's voice cracked. He paused and he closed his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you." He sheathed his sword.

Merlin blinked at him, still expecting the worst. "Am I sacked?"

Arthur chuckled. "You wish."

A smile started to grow at the corners of Merlin mouth. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes, don't you ever save my life again," Arthur said, holding out his hand to help him up.

Merlin took it, smiling broadly now. "Sorry," Merlin replied. "Bad habit I guess."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at that statement and Merlin chuckled. Then Merlin was quite serious again. "Arthur, I have another question."

Arthur motioned for Merlin to go ahead and ask. "What's that, Merlin?"

Merlin glanced around at the vanquished sorcerers. "Can we go get something to eat _now_?"


	2. Friend in Disguise

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. If I did, I'd have been able to see Season 3 by now and I'd find some reason for Colin to use his Scottish accent in the show. **

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><p>"I still don't see why I have to come," Merlin whined as he and Arthur made their way to the great hall.<p>

"If I'm to sit through yet another boring council meeting, than so must you," Arthur said. "Besides, I need you there to-"

"I know," Merlin said rolling his eyes. "Keep your goblet full. I know the drill, sire."

Arthur shoved his manservant in the arm playfully. "You are learning, aren't you?"

"Don't act so surprised."

They marched into the great hall and everyone stood to great the crown prince of Camelot as he took his place by his Father at the front of the committee tables.

"Welcome Prince Arthur," Lord Fendrel said. "With your permission, King Uther, we shall begin the meeting."

"Indeed," Uther said and all the Lords sat. Merlin stood off to the side, along with several other servants. They then began the long and boring process of general reports on the state of each of the providences that the Lords were in charge of. Merlin stifled a yawn.

Lord Fendrel's providence was have a tough year with its crops. Lord Tybalt's providence was becoming overrun with crime. Merlin was surprised that Lord Hadrian didn't have anything to say. The younger Lord always had rather lengthy complains in his report, which was understandable as his province was right on the boarder of King Cendred's kingdom. Today however, he just reported some trivial problem and let the reports move on.

Merlin didn't have much time to meditate on this though because just then Arthur glanced at him meaningfully and held up his goblet. Merlin refrained from rolling his eyes as hurried forward with the pitcher of whine.

"I am curious, Lord Hadrian," King Uther said after all the reports had been heard. "How your province fairs in the battle against magic. When we last held council you reported that magic was growing in popularity and power. Have the troops I sent you been sufficient to aid you?"

Lord Hadrian drained his goblet and then chuckled. "No, Uther, I'm afraid that your troops were not sufficient to drive magic from the land. Indeed, all your precious soldiers managed to do was create for you more enemies." The Lord stood from his chair. He clutched a pendant that he wore around his neck and uttered a few words. A gust of wind blew about the Great Hall and the men shielded their faces against the blowing papers. When the wind died down everyone could see a ragged and bent man standing where Lord Hadrian had once stood.

"Magic," Uther breathed. "Guards, seize him!" Arthur stood up along with the guards who rushed the sorcerer. The man didn't struggle as Arthur shackled his wrists in chains. Merlin felt that there was something eerie about the way the man didn't struggle capture.

"Where is Lord Hadrian?" Uther demanded of the sorcerer, who was clearly not Lord Hadrian. The sorcerer just laughed.

"Oh, I'm afraid you won't be seeing him again," the sorcerer laughed. "He was almost as bad as you are, with your hatred and your fear of magic. My wife and two sons died because of you and him, just because we used magic. My wife never hurt anyone, my sons were young and innocent. They didn't deserve to die." The sorcerer's voice had grown from a sneer to a grief filled growl. Tears streamed down his face as he spat at the king.

"Magic is all together evil," the king retorted. "And evil cannot be tolerated."

"The only evil in this kingdom is you," the sorcerer screamed. "You've taken my family from me! So now I take away yours!"

Merlin saw what was coming a moment before it happened. In that instant, the man uttered a single word and the chains that bound him broke. The next instant he's grabbed Arthur by the front of his shirt with one hand and the pendant around his neck with the other.

Merlin had dropped his pitcher of whine and was running at the two as fast as he could.

Before Arthur, Uther or any of the guards could react to the man's sudden movement he cried out some incantation and he and Arthur started to dematerialize before their eyes.

"No! Arthur!" Merlin leapt at them and caught hold of Arthur's arm just in time. The three of them all vanished, leaving a distraught and startled council behind them.

They reappeared in the ruins of a castle that was who-knows-how-far away from Camelot. Arthur's head was spinning from the magic travel that had just taken place. He was very disoriented. His head hurt like crazy and he felt like he was going to be sick all over the floor.

"Arthur," said a concerned voice at his right. Merlin was here too? Idiot.

That was the last thing Arthur thought before he blacked out.

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><p><em>Arthur came in and out of consciousness in snip-its. He heard faded snatched of conversations that mixed with his dreams.<em>

"_Why are you keeping us alive?" Merlin? Oh yes. He was here too, wasn't he? "I thought you wanted revenge."_

"_If you're going to do something, never do it for free." The sorcerer._

_Moments later, or was it hours? He heard Merlin whispering to him again. "I'll get us out of here, Arthur. I'll get you out of here."_

_His head hurt. Someone was pouring a foul tasting liquid down his throat. Gaius? _

"_Why do you keep drugging him?" Merlin. Angry Merlin. What was going on?_

"_Keeping him subdued. He could be trouble if he woke fully."_

"_You don't think I could be trouble?" Merlin had a tendency to challenge people who could really hurt him, Arthur thought absentmindedly. _

"_**You**__," the sorcerer snarled. "__**You**__ could be __**useful.**__"_

"_Never."_

_Time seemed to have passed again. Merlin's voice now, "… and she died in my arms. I don't think I could ever love another, Arthur. Not like her. When we get out of here, you better take good care of Gwen." He took a shuddering breath. "You can't always be there for them. You can't always help them." He sighed again. "I know you can't hear me, but I have always wanted to tell you." _

_Now Merlin was screaming. "You don't know what you're doing to Camelot, Aegolious!" He yelled angrily. "By taking revenge you're taking the last hope for Camelot to have peace!"_

"_If you know so much, why don't you do something about it," The sorcerer snarled back. _

"_He can't travel like this and I can't leave him."_

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><p>Arthur opened his eyes fully for the first time in what felt like a long time. What had happened? He racked his brain and images of the council meeting that had gone horribly, horribly wrong came back to him.<p>

Merlin. Merlin was with him. Somewhere. Where was he now?

He turned his head and saw his friend. The two of them were locked in a dungeon of some sort. The sliver of a moon could be seen through a small window high above Arthur's head. Arthur himself was lying in a bed of straw off to the side. Merlin was standing over by the barred door, holding a candle that illuminated the entire cell.

Merlin turned a bit staring down at the flame. Arthur could now see the manservant's face. Merlin had become even skinnier, it seemed. How long had they been down here?

"This isn't good," Merlin was muttering to himself. "Aegolious hasn't been here for two days, something is up."

Arthur was about to ask who Aegolious was when he caught sight of something that made all of the words catch in his throat.

Merlin was not holding a candle. The flame was merely floating in his open palm. Magic.

"Come on, Idiot, think," Merlin admonished himself. He held out a hand toward the door and uttered something. The door rattled but didn't do much else.

"Come on!" Merlin growled at the door. He uttered a new word at the door, this time the door groaned but again nothing else happened.

Arthur slowly and silently sat up, careful not to alert the man to his awakened state. He moved into a low crouch, feeling muscles that hadn't been used in a while.

"We need to get out!" Merlin was still yelling at the door. "Now come on!" This time another word was uttered and just then Arthur launched himself at Merlin. There was an explosion and the door blew off its hinges and Merlin and Arthur tumbled out after it.

When the dust settled, Arthur had Merlin pinned to the floor.

"Where is Merlin?" He growled at the man who _must_ be an imposter, because it surly wasn't Merlin.

"Arthur! You're awake!" There was fear in his voice. It sounded very much like Merlin, but it couldn't be. It had to be another sorcerer's trick, which meant Merlin must be imprisoned elsewhere- or worse.

"Where is he, sorcerer? Where is my friend?" Arthur demanded angrily again.

"Arthur," the voice was timid now. The sorcerer looked up at him with those trusted blue eyes that Merlin had. A stolen image of his friend, no doubt. "Arthur, it's me. I'm Merlin."

"You pretended to be Lord Hadrian, and now you are pretending to be my manservant. But I saw you use magic! I know that it's you," Arthur growled.

"Arthur, I've always had magic. I swear, it's me, it's Merlin. And I promise I'll explain everything, but right now we have to get out of here."

"Prove it," Arthur spat at him. "Prove to me you're Merlin." He knew the sorcerer couldn't pretend to be Merlin. Few knew the manservant as well as he did.

Merlin took a deep breath. "I was with you when we fought the dragon. I told you that you dealt him a fatal blow. But I had really sent him away because Balinor was my father and I inherited his gift. I'm the one that found out that it would be a kiss from Guinevere that would break the spell that made you think you were in love with Vivian. I was with you when Morgause conjured the image of your mother. I fought with the sorcerer Cornelius Sigan when his soul possessed that lying creep, Cedric."

Arthur blinked at Merlin. "All right," he said slowly. "I believe you." He got off his friend and Merlin sat up. But Merlin had just got started and continued rattling on nervously, he had apparently not heard Arthur.

"I killed Nimueh to save your life when you got bitten by the questing beast," he continued. "I secretly helped save your father from Tauren's men when they tried to attack him at the grave of Morgana's… erm… father. I went with you from the Labyrinth of Gedref. It was me, not Will, who caused that magical whirlwind in Ealdor. Sophia and her father had actually enchanted you so that they could sacrifice you to get back to Avalon. I didn't have to knock you on the head; you were already out of it. I helped Lancelot kill the Griffin, since it can only be killed with the aid of magic. I made it so Sir Valiant's shield snakes came out where everyone could see them. And when I first met you, I used magic in that fight we had to make you trip on that box and hit your shin." Merlin's voice trailed off as he finished that last one. He hadn't meant to tell Arthur that, it had just all come spilling out.

Arthur blinked at him, his mouth agape.

"You… cheated?"

Merlin smiled sheepishly. "Just a bit."

"You… cheated, and I still beat you?" Arthur smiled at the prospect.

"Well, I had to be discrete. You know, doing magic in Camelot isn't really healthy these days," Merlin said pointedly. "Had I not been hindered with this, I probably could have really taught you a lesson."

Arthur laughed. He recalled his behavior back when they first met and winced slightly. "Probably a well deserved one."

Merlin laughed too, as the two of them stood. Arthur wobbled a little, having been drugged for who knows how long. Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm and slung it over his shoulder.

"Do my ears deceive me or did I just hear you admit that you deserved to be taught a lesson? You wouldn't happen to consider yourself to have been a prat, would you?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at the prince who scowled back at him.

"Honestly, Merlin, you'd have to be an idiot to think of me as a prat. Everyone knows that I'm regarded as the best example of what it means to be honorable and uphold the Knight's code."

"I also think I heard you call me your friend earlier," Merlin said, ignoring the comment.

"No I didn't," Arthur said quickly.

"Yes you did. You said 'Where's Merlin? Where's my friend?'" Merlin said, smiling from ear to ear.

Arthur unnecessarily leaned more of his weight on Merlin in response, but did a poor job of hiding his smile. They were friends and they both knew it.

Just then, the ragged sorcerer, Aegolious, ran down the stairs. "So you broke through the charms, have you?" he snarled at Merlin. "Well that's too bad. I can't let you go anywhere. The witch Morgause will be here soon and she's expecting you two."

Arthur and Merlin looked at each other briefly. Arthur shrugged.

"Okay, Idiot, show me what you've got," Arthur said confidently, gesturing with his free hand toward Aegolious. Merlin smiled and turned to the man.

"I'm sorry, but we're afraid that we're going to have to disappoint Morgause." And his eyes glowed gold.


	3. Best Friends?

**So today I happened upon this drabble that I had written a while ago. I'm not particularly fond of the endless supply of drabbles, so I'm not going to do many, but I figured that this was **_**something**_** as I haven't updated this in a while. **

**If any of you have a particular desire to see something happen in a reveal one-shot, let me know. **

**Disclaimer: I think by now it's rather apparent that I don't own Merlin. **

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><p>Arthur paced heatedly in his chambers, scowling with fury and concentration. Merlin stood by, biting his lip, very absorbed in the small speck of dirt under his finger nail.<p>

Arthur groaned, causing Merlin to jump.

"What would you do, Merlin?" Arthur asked. "What would you do if you just found out your best friend is breaking the law and practicing magic?"

The corners of Merlin's mouth twitched. "Best friend?"

"Don't get distracted, Merlin. Answer the question." Arthur said with some annoyance.

Merlin thought for a moment. He looked at Arthur, eyes hopeful.

"I'd say, 'Be careful and don't tell Uther?'"


End file.
